Holder for articles

ABSTRACT

A holder for articles has a compartmentalized bowl housing for storing the articles and a telescoping rod suspension assembly rotatably mounting the bowl. The holder assembly is adaptable to be selectively suspended from an overhead support or mounted on an underlying surface. The telescoping rod assembly is operative to raise and lower the bowl with respect to either the overhead or underlying support.

United States Patent 1 1 Tantillo 1 51 Jan. 16, 1973 |54l HOLDER FORARTICLES [76] Inventor: Sylvia Tantillo, 2 Jason Lane,

Mamaroneck, NY. 10543 [22] Filed: Sept. 21, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 74,090

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.868,836, Oct. 23, 1969, abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part ofSer. No. 852,626, Aug. 25, I969, abandoned.

52 U.S.CI ..248/330,211/115 51 Int. Cl. ..A47g 33 08 [58] Field ofSearch ..248/317, 318, 320, 321, 323, 248/326, 328, 327, 329, 330, 334,336;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,830,707 4/1958 Schmidt etal "211/114 412,713 10/1889 Sayers et al ..248/334 X 2,988,012 6/1961Markley et a] ..2l H162 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 16,1 13 0/1891Great Britain ..248/330 1,026,479 3/1958 Germany ..248/324 805,709 12/ l958 Great Britain... .......21 N83 251,945 8/1926 Great Britain..248/330 Primary Examiner-J. Franklin Foss Attorney-Bernard Malina [57]ABSTRACT A holder for articles has a compartmentalized bowl housing forstoring the articles and a telescoping rod suspension assembly rotatablymounting the bowl. The holder assembly is adaptable to be selectivelysuspended from an overhead support or mounted on an underlying surface.The telescoping rod assembly is operative to raise and lower the bowlwith respect to either the overhead or underlying support.

7 Claims, 17 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJANIGIHIS 3.711.021

SHEET 1 0F 5 SYLVIA TANTILLO PATENTEDJAH 16 I975 SHEET 2 BF 5 SYLVIA TANTILLO ATTORNEY PATENTEDJAH 16 1975 3.711.021

IV\'\'E\'TOR. SYLVIA TANTILLO PATENTEDJAH 1s 1.915

SHEET I]? 5 Fla/2 INYEYTOR. SYLVIA TANTILLO PATENTED JAN 16 I975 sum 5OF 5 LNVI'I'VI UH SYLVIA TANTILLO HOLDER FOR ARTICLES This applicationis a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 868,836,filed Oct. 23, 1969 now abandoned which was copending with and was acontinuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 852,626, filed Aug. 25,1969, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to a holder for articles and moreparticularly to such holder unit which may be selectively mounted on anunderlying supporting surface such as.a floor or suspended from anoverhead support such as a ceiling.

In commercial, as well as household applications, there is a need for ageneral purpose holder for storing articles which may be retracted to anout-of-the-way position when not in use and which may be selectively andeasily extended into the ready-to-use position when required. Such anoverhead holder is particularly useful in commercial applications suchas in the case of hair dressing salons where the client is typicallyseated and the hairdresser has need for selective access to varioustypes of articles for setting the hair-do such as hair rollers, pins,clips and the like, or in the case of mechanical or electrical repairshops where the technician requires ready access to component parts witha minimum of interference in his work area.

Presently, in the just described commercial applications, ordinaryrolling carts having appropriate receptacles therein are employed toconvey the component parts or articles needed by the operator, to hiswork area.

However, in the above-mentioned commercial applications, as well as inmost work situations, the operator requires a maximum of spacesurrounding the object of his work. Thus, in the case of thehairdressing salon, the hairdresser during the course of his work findsit necessary to walk around his seated client, and/or rotate the chair.Also, in the case of a mechanic or technician assembling or repairingsome apparatus, he must be free to move freely in his work area, and inboth of these cases the presence of a rolling cart in the work spaceaisles obstructs free passage and hinders the operator in carrying outhis duties.

It is recognized, or course, that there may be instances where it isadvantageous to have a general purpose holder mounted on an underlyingsupporting surface such as a floor.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a generalpurpose article holder selectively mountable to an overhead and floormounted position.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an articleholder of the character described which is retractable in the verticaldirection.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of an articleholder of the character described which is pivotable and rotatable inthe horizontal plane to facilitate free access to the contents thereof.

Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of anarticle holder in accordance with the preceding objects adaptable tomount one or more electrical appliances therein.

In accordance with the principles of the present invention there isprovided a holder for articles comprising a base adaptable forconnection to a supporting surface, receptacle means for storingarticles and elongated means mounting the receptacle means to the base.The mounting means includes retraction means operative to selectivelyextend and shorten the effective length of the mounting means to therebyraise and I lower the receptacle means with respect to the support I ingsurface.

The features of the invention which are believed novel are set forthwith particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself,however, both as to its organization and method of operation, togetherwith further objects and features thereof may best be understood withreference to the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention,shown in the extended and retracted positions;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section view taken along the line 22 in FIG. 1showing The retraction unit in the retracted position;

FIG. 3 is a section view taken along the line 3--3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section view taken along the line 44 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a section view taken along the line 5--5 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged section view taken along the line 7-7 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged section view taken along the line 8-8 in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an elevation view of another embodimentof the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 is a section view taken along the line 10-10 in FIG. 9;

FIG. 1 1 is an elevation view of a further embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 is a section view taken along the line 12l2 in FIG. 1 1;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of yet another embodiment of the presentinvention shown in one Operative position;

FIG. 14 is an elevation section view taken along the line 1414 in FIG.13;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged section view taken along the line 15-15 in FIG.13;

FIG. 16 is a sectional view taken along the line 16 16 of FIG. 13; and

FIG. 17 is an elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 13 shown in asecond operative position.

Referring to the drawings the features of the embodiments shown in FIGS.1-12 will be described in connection with the application of the presentinvention for use in hairdressing salons, it being understood that theuse of the article holders shown and described therein is not limitedthereto but, as indicated hereinabove, may be employed in a variety ofapplications such as, but not limited to, mechanical or electricalrepair shops, assembly lines or in the home.

Referring in detail to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1thereof, an article holder made in accordance with the present inventionis designated generally by the reference numeral 10. The holder 10comprises a bowl-shaped receptacle 12 supported from the ceiling 14 by atelescoping rod support 16 Bowl 12, which may be made of lightweightmolded plastic is divided into a plurality of receptacle cups 18 whichmay be molded integrally with bowl 12 to pro-- vide separatecompartments for the various articles to be stored therein. Rod support16 comprises an upper rod assembly 20 which is fixedly mounted toceiling 14 by means of a suitable mounting bracket 22 in the knownmanner employed to mount ordinary light fixtures, and a lower rodassembly 24 to which bowl 12 is secured. lnterconnecting upper and lowerrod assemblies 20 and 24, is a retraction unit 26, which, as hereinafterdescribed in greater detail, allows bowl 12 to be extended downwardlyfrom. its raised position (shown in solid outline) to its loweredposition (shown in dotted outline) as shown in FIG. 1.

In operation, holder is installed in the ceiling 14, so that when in theextended position as shown in FIG. I, bowl 12 will be suspendedalongside the chair of the client. When not in use, holder 10 is in theretracted, i.e., raised position whereby bowl 12 remains suspended fromceiling 14 at an elevated position, i.e., bowl 12 is about 1 or 2 feetspaced away from ceiling 14, and thus elevationally free and clear ofboth the hairdresser and his seated client. However, when thehairdresser needs to have access to the contents of bowl 12, he reachesup to grasp handle 28 located at the lower terminal end of lower rodassembly 20, and pulls downwardly thereby bringing bowl 12 down to asuitable height (approximately waist-high) to permit comfortable andeasyaccess to bowl 12 by the hairwhich is secured to ceiling 14. Thus, whenhandle 28 is dresser.

on a mounting ring 50 which is fixedly mounted concentrically to pulley30. Ratchet 44 is mounted and fixedly secured to mounting pin 33.Accordingly, when bowl 12 is lowered, as described above, pawl ring 50rotates with respect to stationary ratchet 44, and when the pull-downforce is released, the pawls 46 pivot about their mounting pins 48 inresponse to gravita- 28, bowl 12 is lowered slightly to release pawls 46from Referring to FIG. 2, retraction unit 26 comprises a clock springmechanism 29 having a pulley 30 on which is wound a cord 32.whichsupports holder 10 in the suspended condition while allowing telescopingupper and lower rod assemblies 20 and 24 to be extended and retracted.Upper rod assembly 20 comprises an outer tubular rod 34 fixedly securedto mounting plate 22 and slidably receiving inner tubular rod 36 whichisfixedly secured to the mounting frame 31. Inner tubular rod 36 has abore 37 suitably dimensioned to allow free sliding of upper cord portion32a therethrough.

Clock spring mechanism 29, which is of the wraparound type, comprisespulley 30 which is rotatably centrally mounted on pin 33 which in turnis fixedly supported at its terminal ends in apertures 31a and 31b inmounting frame 31 by means of a dowel pin 36 and a threaded wing nut 38.Mechanism 29 comprises a wrap-around clock spring 40 fixedly secured topulley 30, so that when bowl 12 is pulled down, thereby pulling down thelower cord portion 32b and causing cord coil 320 to unwind, clock spring40 is rendered into a condition of increasing tension. When bowl 12 hasbeen thus lowered to a suitable level, it is latched in this position byvirtue of the action of a ratchet mechanism 42 as shown in greaterdetail in FIG. 3. Retraction unit 26 may be provided with a shell-shapedhousing 39 comprising a pair of opposing outerfitting hollow hemisphereportions 39a and 39b which interlock at central mounting pin 33 by anyconventional means, e.g., snap-fitting engagement, as shown in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 3, mechanism 42 comprises a central stationary ratchet44 surrounded by a plurality of pawls 46 mounted for free rotation bymeans of pins 48 their locking action with stationary ratchet 44, toallow bowl 12 to rise to the retracted position under the force of clockspring 40 which has been previously rendered into the condition ofincreased tension.

Referring now to FIGS. 4-7, lower rod assembly 24 comprises an outertubular rod 54 having handle 28 fixedly secured thereto at its lowerterminal end in screwthreaded engagement. Outer rod 54 is provided witha bore 56 of suitable size so as to slidably receive inner tubular rod58 which has its upper end fixedly secured to the bottom of mountingframe 31, as shown in FIG. 2. Grip handle 28 is fixedly attached to thelower end of coiled cord 32b, so that when bowl 12 is in the retractedposition as illustrated in FIG. 2, the spring action of clock spring 40urges outer rod 54 upward against the shoulder portion 58a of inner rod58, and likewise, the shoulder portion 36a of inner rod 36 is urged intoabutment with the lower rim of outer rod 34 pulled down, inner rod 36slides out of outer rod 34 and outer rod 54 slides away to reveal innerrod 58.

Bowl 12 is in the form of an integrally formed hollow hemisphere dividedinto four quadrant cup sections 18 by walls 60 which extend radiallyoutward from rod assembly 54. Walls 60 which extend to the rim 12a ofbowl 12, are provided, at the upper edges thereof with flanges 62 whichmeet centrally in a central portion 63 having a central aperture 63a toslidably receive outer rod 54 therethrough. Bowl 12 is secured to lowerrod assembly 24 for rotation thereon by means of lower and uppercircular disc-shaped supports 64 and 66 fixedly secured to outer rod 54at suitably spaced locations thereon, so that the central portion 63 offlanges 62 abuts upper support 66 when the bottom of outer wall 12b isseated on lower support 64. Thus, bowl 12 may be easily rotated in thehorizontal plane to facilitate access by the hair-dresser to the severalcompartment cups 18 containing the hair-dressing articles 68 which mayconveniently be segregated by kind in the cups 18.

Referring to FIGS. 6-8 another embodiment of the present invention isshown, which is similar to that of FIGS. 1 and 4, with the exceptionthat bowl 13 is provided with removable container cups 70, each of whichcomprise a pair of side walls 72 and 74 intersecting at right angles anda third shell-shaped side wall 76 extending from the other ends ofsidewalls 72 and 74. FIG. 6 shows three cups seated in bowl 12 with onecup 70 removed therefrom. Sidewalls 72, 74 and 76 terminate at theirupper edges in an outwardly extending peripheral flange 78 and cups 70are suitably sized so that when cup 70 is placed in the correspondingconforming compartment cavity in bowl 12, as shown in FIG. 6, the bottomsurfaces of cup flange 78 seat on bowl rim 12a, bowl flanges 62 andcentral flange portion 63, as shown in FIG. 7. The provision ofremovable cups 70 enables the hair-dresser to easily remove the same forplacement of articles therein or their removal the chair 80, may bevaried. This arrangement is par-' ticularly advantageous inaccommodating hairdressers who may be either righthanded or lefthandedand accordingly would require that the bowl 12 be located on one or theother sides of the client to facilitate easy access to the hair rollers68. In the arrangement of FIGS. 9 and 10, the upper rod assembly 20,rather than being fixedly secured to a mounting plate 22 in the ceiling14, is fixedly attached to a horizontal swivel arm 82 which is mountedon ceiling 14 for rotational movement in the horizontal plane parallelto ceiling 14.

Arm 82extends at one end in an L-bend 84 which terminates in a ball 86which is mounted for free rotation in a ball socket 88 which is fixedlysecured to ceiling 14. Thus the operator may position holder at anypoint along the are 90 in order for maximum comfort andaccessibility of'thehairdressing articles during the course of his work.

It is understood that various other arrangements may be employed topermit selective variation of the position of holder 10 with respect tothe client who is seated incha irSODOne of these alternate arrangementsis shown iri"FIGS. 11 and 12 wherein holder 10 is fixedly mounted atit supper end to an axle rod 92 which is mounted between a pair of rollers94. Rollers 94 are located in an arc-shaped channel 96 which is fastenedto ceiling 14 at its upper end and is provided with a slot 98 in thebottom wall 99 running parallel to channel walls 100 and 102 throughoutthe length of channel 96 to permit free passage of upper rod assemblytherethrough. Channel 96 which is closed at both ends extends arcuatelyfrom one side to the other side of chair 80 in a path similar to arm 90of FIG. 10. Thus, as in the case of FIG. 10, the operator mayselectively position holder 10 to suit his working convenience by movingholder 10 so that rollers 92 which travel on the track defined by spacedbottom wall portions 99a and 99b to the desired position.

It will be understood that the above-described embodiments of thepresent invention are not limited to a particular choice of materialsfor the components parts thereof. However, by way of example, bowl 12,cups 70 and retraction unit housing 39 may be made of molded plasticmaterial, cord 32 of high strength nylon cord and rod assemblies 20 and24 of hard plastic or metal.

In order to enhance the appearance thereof and to enable the holder ofthe present invention to conform with the decor of the interior of thehairdressing salon wherein it is to be used, the exterior wall 12b ofbowl 12 may be suitably decorated with an appropriate ornamental design.

Referring to FIGS. 13l7, a general purpose holder made in accordancewith the present invention in another embodiment thereof is designatedgenerally by the reference numeral 110. Holder 110, as will hereinafterbecome apparent, is similar in its structural features and basicprinciples of operation to the previously described embodiments of FIGS.1-12, except that it is adaptable to be selectively suspended from anoverhead support such as a ceiling 112, as shown in FIG. 13 or mountedupright in a reversed position on an underlying support such as a floor114, as shown in FIG. 17.

Holder 1 10 has a bowl housing 116 comprising a pair of opposing hollowhemispherical bowls, i.e., a compartmentalized lower bowl 118 adapted tostore articles therein in a similar manner to. bowl 12 of FIGS. l-l2,and an upper bowl 120 separable from lower bowl 118 and adapted tofixedly receive therein one or more applicances, such as a light bulb122 and a radio receiver 124.

' Holder 110 further includes an upper rod assembly 126 comprising anouter rectangular tubular rod 128 operatively secured at its upper endto a ball joint 130 extending centrally from a base plate 132 which maybe provided with a pair of mounting holes 134, 136 for receiving acorresponding pair of bolts 138, 140 for securing holder 110 to ceiling112 as shown in FIG. 14. Upper rod assembly 126 further comprises aninner tubular rod 142 which terminates at its upper end in an outwardlyextending rectangular flange 144 suitably sized so as to be slidablyreceived in the bore of the outer rod 128. Outer rod 128 terminates atits lower end in an inwardly extending flange 146 which engages theunderside of inner rod flange 144 to limit the downward movement ofinner rod 142 with respect to outer rod 128.

Holder 110 further comprises a lower rod assembly 148, comprises anouter tubular rod 150 integrally molded with lower bowl 118 and an innertubular rod 152 fixedly secured at its lower end to lower bowl 118 bymeans of a bolt and retaining ring assembly 154. Inner rod 152 extendsupwardly through outer rod 150 and terminates at its upward end in aflange 156 which is slidably received in the bore of inner rod 142 inthe same manner as flange 144 is received in outer rod 128. Again, inthe same manner as the engagement'of rod 142 with rod 128, rod 142 isprovided with an inward flange 158 at a point intermediate its length-toengage flange 156 in similar abutting engagement as that described withrespect to flanges 144 and l46'to limit the relative movement of rod 152with respect to rod 142.

Lower bowl 118 is provided with similar compartmentalized receptacles160 as that shown in the embodiments of FIGS. 1-12 and may beadditionally provided with a central integrally molded cup 162 foradditional storage of articles. Upper bowl 120 is secured to rod 142 bya pair of retaining rings 164 and 166 while rod 150 is secured at itsupper end to inner rod 152 by a retaining ring 168.

Electrical wires 170 and 172 extend respectively from lamp 122 and radioreceiver 124 through rods 152, 142 and 128 through central aperture 174of base plate 132 for connection to an ordinary electrical outlet (notshown).

In the foregoing description of the assembly of rods 152, 142 and 128 itis understood that these rods are made of suitable material such asaluminum or hard plastic and are suitably dimensioned such'that whenmounted as shown in FIG. 13, the frictional forces between theirrespective flanges and the mating interior surfaces of the rods aresufficient to maintain bowls 120 and 1 18in the closed position as shownin FIG. 15, or in the fully extended open position of FIG. 13, or in anyintermediate open position which may bemanually positioned as desired.Thus the aforementioned frictional forces are such as to maintain bowls118 and 120 in any selected fixed position with respect to each othersimilar to those in bowl 118 shown in FIG. 13 and bowl 178 would beprovided with a lamp and radio receiver (not shown) similar to thatprovided in bowl 120 of FIGS. 13 and 15. In all respects the operationof holder 110 of FIG. 17 is similar to that described with respect toFIG. 13. It is understood that plate 132 in FIG. 17 may .befreely'seated on floor 114 or fixedly secured thereto as-desired.

Ball joint 130 allows free rotational and pivotal movement of theholders 110 of FIGS. 13 and 17 to provide selective adjustment of theposition of these holders asrequired.

It is understood that although the above-described rods in FIGS. 13-17are shown to be rectangular in cross-section they can be made to becircular in crosssection as in the previously described embodimentswithout departing from the principles of operation just described.

While there has been shown particular embodiments of the presentinvention, it will be understood that it is not wished to be limitedthereto, since modification may be made in the construction of the bowl,rod assemblies and retraction unit and it is contemplated in theappended claims to cover any such modificationsas fall within the truespirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A holder for articles comprising a base adaptable for connection toan overhead support receptacle means for storing articles and mountingmeans for mounting said receptacle means to said base, said mountingmeans being operative to selectively extend and shorten the effectivelength thereof to thereby raise and lower said receptacle means withrespect to said overhead support, said mounting means comprisingtelescoping rod means for suspending said receptacle means includingupper and lower telescoping rod assemblies and retraction meansinterconnecting said upper, and lower telescoping rod assemblies, saidrecep-' tacle means being secured to said lower telescoping rodassembly, said retraction means comprising a pulley and a cord coiled insaid retraction means and extend ing the length of said telescoping rodmeans coaxially there'through. v

2. A holder as defined in claim 1 wherein said retractionmeans includesa pulley about which said cord is coiled.

3. A holder as defined in claim 2 wherein said retraction means furtherincludes a clock spring operatively connected to said pulley wherebysaid clock spring IS operative to render the retraction means into acondition of increasing retraction force when said cord coil is unwoundto extend the effective length of said suspension means. 1

4. A holder as defined in claim 3 wherein-said retraction means furthercomprises latching means for releasably locking said suspension meansinto a selectively variable extended condition.

5. A holder as defined in claim 1 wherein said recep I tacle means ismounted for tal plane. I

6. A holder for articles comprising a base adaptable forconnection to asupporting surface with an overhead support, receptacle means. forstoring articles comprising upper and lower hemispheric bowls inseparable opposing relationship; suspension means comprising telescopingrod meansformounting said receptacle means to said overhead support andto selectively extend and shorten the effective length thereof tothereby raise and lower said receptacle means with respect to saidoverhead support, said telescoping means comprising a first hollow rodadaptable to be secured to said supporting surface, a second hollow rodslidably received in said first hollow rod in telescoping relationshiptherewith, said upper bowl being fixedly secured to said second hollowrod, and a third hollow rod slidably received in said second hollow rodin telescoping relationship therewith with said lower bowl being fixedlysecured to said third hollow rod.

7. A holder as defined in claim 6 wherein said upper bowl includes atleast one electrical appliance mounted in the interior thereof.

free rotation in thehorizon-

1. A holder for articles comprising a base adaptable for connection toan overhead support receptacle means for storing articles and mountingmeans for mounting said receptacle means to said base, said mountingmeans being operative to selectively extend and shorten the effectivelength thereof to thereby raise and lower said receptacle means withrespect to said overhead support, said mounting means comprisingtelescoping rod means for suspending said receptacle means includingupper and lower telescoping rod assemblies and retraction meansinterconnecting said upper and lower telescoping rod assemblies, saidreceptacle means being secured to said lower telescoping rod assembly,said retraction means comprising a pulley and a cord coiled in saidretraction means and extending the length of said telescoping rod meanscoaxially therethrough.
 2. A holder as defined in claim 1 wherein saidretraction means includes a pulley about which said cOrd is coiled.
 3. Aholder as defined in claim 2 wherein said retraction means furtherincludes a clock spring operatively connected to said pulley wherebysaid clock spring is operative to render the retraction means into acondition of increasing retraction force when said cord coil is unwoundto extend the effective length of said suspension means.
 4. A holder asdefined in claim 3 wherein said retraction means further compriseslatching means for releasably locking said suspension means into aselectively variable extended condition.
 5. A holder as defined in claim1 wherein said receptacle means is mounted for free rotation in thehorizontal plane.
 6. A holder for articles comprising a base adaptablefor connection to a supporting surface with an overhead support,receptacle means for storing articles comprising upper and lowerhemispheric bowls in separable opposing relationship; suspension meanscomprising telescoping rod means for mounting said receptacle means tosaid overhead support and to selectively extend and shorten theeffective length thereof to thereby raise and lower said receptaclemeans with respect to said overhead support, said telescoping meanscomprising a first hollow rod adaptable to be secured to said supportingsurface, a second hollow rod slidably received in said first hollow rodin telescoping relationship therewith, said upper bowl being fixedlysecured to said second hollow rod, and a third hollow rod slidablyreceived in said second hollow rod in telescoping relationship therewithwith said lower bowl being fixedly secured to said third hollow rod. 7.A holder as defined in claim 6 wherein said upper bowl includes at leastone electrical appliance mounted in the interior thereof.